Hepatitis find brings berry recall
Five cases of hepatitis A have been blamed on frozen mixed berries, leading to a nationwide recall.
One-kilogram bags of Nanna's Frozen Mixed Berries were recalled on Saturday as a result of contamination, as well as 300 gram and 500 gram packets of Creative Gourmet frozen mixed berries.
On Tuesday, Nanna's Raspberries one-kilogram packs were added to the recall by the distributor of both brands - Patties Foods.
Health officials say three cases of hepatitis A in Victoria and two in New South Wales are linked to the products.
Consumers have also been told not to eat Nanna's brand products with best-before dates up to and including November 22, 2016, Creative Gourmet 300 gram packets with best-before dates up to and including December 10, 2017, and 500 gram packets with best-before dates up to October 6, 2017.
The products were distributed by Patties Foods, which is based Victoria, but the berries themselves come China and Chile.
“Further detailed testing is being done and the recall is an important step to ensure public safety and confidence,” a company statement says.
But Patties Foods say quality control testing has not revealed any concerns with the food safety of either product.
“We have decided that all our frozen Mixed Berries should be recalled until such time as we receive the results of further laboratory tests,” the statement reads.
But authorities expect more cases to arise.
“So far we've had two people that have confirmed hepatitis A, that in the weeks to months before they developed hepatitis A had consumed these berries and they're coming from different parts of the state,” Dr Vicky Sheppeard from NSW Health's Communicable Diseases Branch told the ABC on the weekend.
“The incubation period for hepatitis A is between two and seven weeks, so at this stage it's an early stage of the investigation and we're still gathering information about how much of the product is in NSW homes but potentially we will be seeing more cases in the coming weeks.
“We're concerned this might be a more widespread problem,” Dr Sheppeard said.
Victorian officials agree.
“Hepatitis A virus infection is uncommon and normally associated with travel to countries affected by endemic hepatitis A,” Victoria's chief health officer Dr Rosemary Lester told reporters.
“The only common link between the cases is consumption of this product. There is no overseas travel or common restaurant exposure.”